| Country: | Ukraine |
| Details of Formation: | The group was formed under the control of the Interior Ministry as a special-purpose police battalion in April 2014 to counter separatist attacks in the Dnipropetrovsk region. |
| Details of Termination: | In September 2014 the group was transformed into a regiment of the National Guard by the Interior Ministry to broaden its functions and enhance its impact. |
| Purpose: | Dnipro-1 was used for police-related tasks, such as the maintenance of public order and patrols, and to generally protect the Dnipropetrovsk region as well as to conduct operations against pro-Russian separatists. For instance, the PGM took control of the railway along the Donetsk border. |
| Organisation: | The PGM operates nominally under the command of the Ministry of the Interior or the Ministry of Defense but enjoys a large degree of autonomy in its operations. The commander of the group is Yuriy Bereza and deputy commander is Vladimir Manko. Financial assistance to the group was substantially provided by Ihor Kolomoyskyi, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, who also oversaw its activities. |
| Weapons and Training: | There were plans by the government to arm the group via the Interior and Defence Ministries and it is reported that members had weapons consisting of small arms. It is not clear whether the government actually provided the weapons, as one source states that they were not distributed consistently, but rather based on initiative. |
| Size: | Initially the PGM had 500 members (April 2014). A report in June 2014 states that this number had increased to 2,000. |
| Reason for Membership: | Though the group was funded by Kolomoyskyi, there is no explicit evidence indicating whether or not members were paid. Some members were committed to an ultra-nationalist group, so it is possible that this was an ideological motivation to join, however, this is not clearly stated. |
| Treatment of Civilians: | Like similar battalions, the group has been accused of preventing the provision of humanitarian aid. The consequences for civilians were particularly severe because many were dependent on food aid for survival. Human Rights Watch documents allegations of enforced disappearance, abuse, imprisonment and torture of civilians. There were also reported instances where protesters were killed by the group and one abduction of a journalist. |
| Other Information: | : The group was nicknamed Kolomoyskyi’s battalion based on its close ties to this oligarch. Alternative spellings include Dnepr/Dnipro/Dnipr/Dniepr. |
| References: |
Amnesty International. 2014. “Eastern Ukraine: Humanitarian disaster looms as food aid blocked.” December 24, 2014. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/12/eastern-ukraine-humanitarian-disaster-looms-food-aid-blocked/ Human Rights Watch. 2015. “Letter to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yaesenyuk.” March 12, 2015. https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/03/12/letter-ukrainian-prime-minister-arseniy-yatsenyuk Human Rights Watch. 2016. “Joint HRW and AI Letter to Anatoly Matios.” August 29, 2016. https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/08/29/joint-hrw-and-ai-letter-anatoly-matios Information was taken from news sources listed in the PGMD. |